GENEVA, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- Local police in eastern Switzerland's canton of Graubunden on Thursday said that a group of six people reportedly missing after a landslide in the country's eastern mountains were later located unharmed in Italy.
A Graubunden police spokesperson told a press briefing earlier Thursday that up to 14 people went missing following a landslide near a village near the border area with Italy.
The landslide occurred on Wednesday in the Val Bondasca region of canton Graubunden, but initially no casualties were reported, then on Thursday morning local police reported that eight people went missing as a result of the disaster.
Local police later on Thursday afternoon refreshed the casualties, saying that a separate group of six people may also be missing during the huge flow of rocks and mud in the area, but these six people were finally found safe.
Those still missing were described as hikers and climbers respectively from Switzerland, Germany and Austria,, the local police said. No children or locals from the region were among those reported missing.
According to the police, rescue teams including 120 rescue workers, an army helicopter using thermal sensing technology as well as rescue dogs are still doing their job to find the missing eight people.
Local media said that about 100 inhabitants of the mountain village of Bondo were also evacuated as a precaution, who as of midday on Thursday could still not return home.
